Puppy Biting

To Pin or not to Pin, that is the BIG question

Summarized from KB-L newslist by Marian Tyson, 2008

Anne Corke queried the KB-L newslist for suggestions on how to handle a Kerry puppy who had been nipping and then bit the owner. Here are responses to the situation from earlier archives and the current conversation.

Verbal inhibition and physical substitution: Say “No!” or “Ouch!” or yelp and then give the dog something else to chew on. (Janet Joers, Lisa Frankland, Trixie Singer, Sharon Burnett, Tracey Fulmer, Patty Sontag, Megan Tormey).

The area of most debate was over whether or not to pin the dog in response to biting.

Pining refers to the practice of holding the dog down on the ground with his belly up. Proponents of pinning the dog found that in their experience this method was effective and did not result in dog aggression later in life. (Eileen Andrade, Brian Monroy).

Other readers felt that using “pinning” could result in a more fearful or aggressive dog. (Tracey Fulmer, Kimberly Battles, Patty Sontag, and Megan Tormey).

Tit for Tat response: Daniel McCrackin nipped back after the Kerry nipped Daniel on the nose. Problem solved.

Please check the KB-L archives for complete responses if you are considering this method for your dog.

For further reading our KB-L subscribers suggested:

Childproofing Your Dog, by Brian Kilcommins and Sarah Wilson, anything by Sarah Wilson (suggested by Lisa Frankland)
The Whole-Dog Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, Well-Behaved Puppy, by Faculty of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, Lawrence Linder and Nicholas Dodman (suggested by Patty Sontag)
Sirius Puppy Training, by Ian Dunbar (referenced by Lisa Frankland.)

These books are available from amazon.com.